She Must Be
by SilverUmbra
Summary: There were guidelines for the perfect partner... and it was a shame that she didn't fit ANY of them. Then again, she wasn't normal... 'Unique' was a nicer way of putting it... Gallantshipping


_Hi, guys! Well, I know I haven't updated in a while, I'm sorry about that! I have to get some more ideas in my head, which is why I've been doing so many oneshots. Well, I'm planning to do a story based off of PMD2 after I finish WHPWW... but this was just a taste of a new shipping I really like! Gallantshipping, which is RoseradexGallade. I've become obsessed with it, mainly because of Team Raider from PMD2. I'm not sure about their personalities, since they've only said one thing, really, but hey..._

_That aside, this turned out to be a lot longer than I thought it was going to be... There are a few moments with Team Charm, though I don't like them much. I've learned to respect Lopunny a little bit, mainly because she high jump kicked the crap out of Regigigas in my game... So, yep. Still don't like them. But I do like Roserade- I call her Rade- and Gallade. So... as a pairing, it should be awesome! To me, at least. It's a new idea, so it might be a little weird, but eh. I really do like this ship! :D_

_Anyways, my thoughts aside, here we are!_

EDIT: Decided to put in the names I use :D I don't like using species names, after all.

_FIC!_

* * *

Haku of Team Raider sighed, shifting against the tree that he was leaning against as his eyes locked onto the fire that danced in the middle of the small clearing. Large, imposing trees covered the already dark area in a more intimidating blackness that made the young psychic type feel like there was danger watching just beyond the flame light. They were probably just waiting for him to fall asleep so that they could creep closer and-

The Gallade shook his head, dispelling his childish thoughts. To get his mind off of such paranoia, the male looked at his other two companions that slept soundly a little a way from him. Nero was snoring like a Snorlax, his loud sleep noises actually vibrating the ground in which he was sprawled like an mountain of quaking rock. How the rock type could sleep so well with such danger surrounding them, Haku didn't know, and he didn't bother to wonder over it too deeply. After all, the Rhyperior tended to be a moron at times...

Rolling his red eyes, Haku turned his attention to the last member of the strange, yet oddly enough highly _famous_ team. Rade, the flowered assassin, sat leaned against a tree opposite of him, smooth green arms crossed as her white topped head tilted downwards to hide her expression. Despite this defensive posture which should have concealed any sign of her status, the psychic could see the small frown on her face and her closed eyes. Just like the rock Pokemon, the grass type was also asleep, despite the frightening surroundings.

The lean psychic type sighed, hand going to rest on his head as his red eyes closed. The whole reason that the trio was in the creepy forest was for the same reason that the trio always found themselves in strange and creepy places. For treasure and hunting, since that was the whole reason that Team Raider even _existed_. The current trip was after a sealed chamber rumored to be made completely of gold, and it figured that such a catch would be located in the darkest, dankest and most depressing of jungles around.

In fact, it had taken a three day journey from Treasure Town just to get to the border of the towering mass of plant growth monstrosity that was called First Forest, and this had been the first rest they had really gotten since then. Haku supposed it would only be natural that the two would sleep undisturbed; they were probably exhausted and he probably would have been sleeping too, if it hadn't been for his paranoia of the dark. _And_ the weird noises that quivered the night air every now and then.

Of course, he would never bring up his fear of the present location with his partners, and he'd admit it, best _friends_. First off, Nero would never let him forget, and would probably taunt him with the usual childish names that he should have outgrown when he learned to stand on two legs but certainly didn't. Secondly, who knew how Rade would react, since she was mostly random in her own ways as well. At worst, she would probably just think even less of him, but she always had. In the end, the psychic type knew that he didn't want to lose his honor to something so trivial, when it could have been easily avoided. After all, what could he do about it, other than ignore it and hope that he had enough energy to keep him going for the rest of the trip?

He kept himself entertained, or at least less bored, by going over the usual Noble Gallade Standards in his mind over and over again. Despite the fact that he came from a high ranking branch of Pokemon that usually ruled over a large stretch of area, the young male had somehow started in a career different than that of his siblings, one that only the more common of branches usually did. If it had to do with his personality, choice of friends or being the youngest, he wasn't sure, but he was glad. After all, if it hadn't been for this, he probably never would have met with his now best friends and comrades.

Finding his gaze once again being drawn to the caped grass type known as Rade, Hakustarted to muse over how such a eccentric female like she would fit into the guidelines for a perfect mate.

Not that he had any feelings for her other than deep friendship, he reminded himself quickly as his face started to heat up. But just because he was bored, and he really didn't have anything better to do. It wasn't like he _loved _her or anything... Despite the fact that he and she had gone through so much, despite the fact that she had been his first best friend and that they had been together for a decade or so...

He shook his head again, shifting silently so that he could fold his arms, as his face took on an expression of deep thought.

_**She must be graceful**_

"_You know... I've always had a little question." Wes started, turning so that he could look at Team Charm, Nero and Haku. The six Pokemon were sitting in the shade of one of the large trees that bordered the beach, having lunch and keeping cool while waiting for Team Distant to hurry up and come back from their latest trip. "Why do you think that male Roserade have shorter capes than females like Rade?" At his question, all eyes went to look at said grass type that was on the actual beach, taking in sunlight as she wandered around on the shore, alone as usual. She always stayed away when Team Charm was around, mainly because she hated them with a passion._

"_Quite obvious, my dear Wes!" Larka replied, nodding her head as if the answer was obvious. "Males like yourself have no grace, thus a male Roserade would simply continue to fall upon his own face with his inherited clumsiness!" The Lopunny stood up, posed like the woman symbol she was and then continued. "However! Since Lady Rade is a female, she is filled with grace and would never fall from the betrayal of her own walk!" Lily the Gardevoir and Sena the Medicham nodded their heads wisely in agreement as Nero and Haku just rolled their eyes. _

_Then, as all eyes turned back to the beach, the group was just in time to see the person of their discussion trip on her own cape, give a yelp and then get swept up by one of the larger waves, cursing the entire time. Haku jumped up while Wes stayed, stunned that a theory had been proven wrong so soon after being heard._

"_T-then again..." The brown and cream colored leader of Team Charm stuttered, "S-she is... quite unique, y-yes?"_

"_What frightful language!" Lily whispered, red eyes wide as her fair hands went over her ears to try and block out the language she was hearing._

"_Yes, yes!" Sena agreed, trembling. _

_The psychic and fighting type male only sighed before sprinting down to the ocean full speed to rescue the clumsy female while Nero just continued to laugh and Wes asked for an explanation from a forever scarred team of women._

_**She must be good with children**_

"_Get it off!" _

_Rade spun around in circles, growling as she attempted to get the baby off of her arm while her teammates just watched in stunned awe. The Smoochum, not understanding that the ninja indeed hated little kids, continued to gurgle as she nuzzled into the vibrant blue rose that was attached to the grass type's right arm, enjoying the faint and heavenly smell that came with it. _

_Rade stopped her spinning, held out the offending limb with the ice type infant attached to it and glared. Again, the blond Pokemon only gurgled and started to drool, which brought a deeper look of disgust onto the Roserade's face. Then, as an evil look crossed her red eyes, the female pulled her arm back and then threw the little Pokemon as hard as she could. Not only did this detach it from her arm, but also sent the pink and yellow Pokemon flying quickly towards a solid wall of stone._

"_RADE!" _

_Haku, finally reacting, leaped up and caught it in his arms before crashing into the same wall from the momentum. He swayed slightly as Nero helped him up, then shook his head and glared at the poisonous ninja that was mulling over the flower petals on the blue rose in her right arm. "The little freak pulled out a few..." Indeed, as the ice type giggled again, she held up one small hand, which held three deep blue petals. _

"_Rade! You nearly killed her and you're worrying about your roses?!" Haku snapped, cradling the small Pokemon to his chest as he glared at his best friend. While the glare normally would have made a normal Pokemon shudder, Rade just waved it off with nonchalance. _

"_It attacked me, thus I had every right to defend myself." She declared. "And plus... freaky little thing should be put out of it's miser-"_

"_RADE!" The Gallade barked, cutting her off before she could even finish. Nero chuckled under his breath before wandering over to the poison/grass type. _

"_You know how he is about kids, Rade." The rock type smirked as said male glared at him. "He's the kind of guy who wants a big family with the white picket fence and the garden out back. Completely different to you, right? I suppose it's a good thing that you guys will never be together, eh?" Haku blinked at his words before quickly looking away. _

_Rade just kicked a pebble while avoiding his look, muttering that "she just hated having her flowers touched" before leaving for the exit. _

_**She must listen to what you say and obey**_

"_Eat it."_

"_No, you eat it."_

"_Eat it."_

"_No."_

_Rade glared at Haku, red rose held towards him as she continued to offer the apple to him. He stared back at her, face determined as he ignored it despite the hunger in his stomach. The grass type scowled at his stubbornness, carmine eyes flashing in anger as she continued to poke him and he continued to refuse._

"_Why not?"_

"_It's the last one, and you haven't eaten." He replied, never missing a beat. Yes, here came another clash of their cultures. Nero had stayed behind, seeing as the mission was supposed to be an easy one, at least until an earthquake blocked out their exit and they were forced to wander around to find another one. Because the trip was supposed to be easy, they hadn't packed much, and when hunger had come only one apple was there to eat. _

_Haku, being a Pokemon of manners and chivalry, had been raised to always have the lady eat first, even if it meant that he was to go hungry, while Rade had been raised to give what you had to someone else, even if it meant you were, well, hungry. Which was exactly why the two friends were glaring at each other while the apple sat between them. _

"_Eat the apple."_

"_No."_

"_I'm not going to eat the damn apple, so you might as well." She growled, trying to hide a small line of worry that had managed to sneak into her eyes. "I don't need as much food as you do." That was the truth. Being a grass type, she could take in the nutrients in the soil to keep her hunger off for longer than a stubborn psychic male could. Even with this knowledge he continued to refuse, and it was starting to piss her off. _

"_Goddamn it, Haku! Do I have to shove it down your throat?!"_

_He only continued to stare at her evenly. Rade narrowed her eyes even more, to the point where they were just slits behind her mask. Then she suddenly lunged, crashing into him as she used her flowered arms to pin him down. Being a fighting type, he could have easily pushed her off, but he was too stunned to do so. He blinked as an apple was waved in front of his red eyes. _

"_Eat. The. Damn. Apple."_

"_No."_

_The ninja gave another growl that didn't suite her looks, "... Do I have to force feed you like a damn bird Pokemon?!" At her words the psychic type underneath her widened his eyes, trying to figure out if she had just said what she had. If Rade thought that it had been odd, she didn't show it, but only continued to glare at him while dangling the small apple in front of his face. Then again, she didn't have a clue to noble rules, and her actions showed that entirely._

_With a quick movement of one arm, he pushed her off and stood up, earning a glare that could have killed any lesser Pokemon. As she glowered at him, the psychic took the apple from her, took a large bite and then continued down the cave's corridor. _

"_We don't have all day, Rade. Hurry up or I'll leave you behind."_

_Rade blinked before jumping up and hurrying after him, all the time muttering about 'morons,' 'bastards' and 'not making any sense'._

_**She must be honest**_

"_You okay?"_

_Rade looked up at the Gallade, red eyes narrowed as she attempted to keep her expression blank. Her rose petals drooped from the heat they had been exposed to, and she had to pant slightly to keep herself from overheating. She knew it had been a bad idea for her to come to the fiery dungeon, seeing as she was a grass type and the magma was hurting her just by being so close. The trio had stopped for a rest, and unlike usual times she had collapsed as soon as Haku had called it, instead of complaining on "why they couldn't go on a little longer." Nope, not this time._

_Obviously the other two had noticed. _

"_I'm fine." She muttered without missing a beat._

_Damn them for picking HELL to explore, just to find some damned TREASURE. She never asked Nero to go to the water covered dungeons, or for Haku to go to the Sky Plateau since he was afraid of heights. No, because she actually cared if they were going to be afraid or hurt, unlike the two bastards that dared to call themselves her friends. _

_Liars._

_Then again, so was she._

_She was not okay. She was tired and she ached and she wanted nothing more than to curl up in a fetal position and die. That was not being 'fine' that was being 'I'm in pain and it's all you damn fault'. She continued to glare at Haku, who was now saying something quietly to the rock type next to him. Then her eyes started to droop to a close and a feeling of dizziness took over her as everything went black. _

_When she managed to gain consciousness, the grass type found that Haku was carrying her while Nero went ahead, scaring off any threatening Pokemon with a glare. The psychic type, sensing that she was up, spoke, his voice gentle._

"_Stupid girl. You could have told us you weren't feeling well." _

_She was about to retort with a harsh comment when the worried look in his red eyes stopped her. Instead of biting or yelling at him like she had originally planed, Rade just sighed, nuzzling into the junction of his neck and shoulder before muttering something that sounded strangely like "thank you."_

_**She must be predictable**_

_"HAKU__!"_

_He looked up from the ground and managed to get to a clumsy kneeling position, while the entrance to the cavern collapsed behind him with a series of groaning. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he finally managed to make out a green, red, white and blur smudge making its way to him at an alarming speed. When the thing nearly tripped over the cape attached to its back, the psychic instantly knew who it was._

"_Rade..."_

_He coughed, trying to clear his lungs of the dust from the collapsed cave as the Roserade came to a stop in front of him, kneeling so that she could look at him and his state. Her maroon eyes searched him for any serious injuries other than scrapes and bruises, and was glad when she could see none. As she gazed at him, the human-like Pokemon managed to speak._

"_I... sorry... I had to drop the treasure... And the criminal got away..." He flinched as he said it, waiting for her reaction. She would be angry, angry that he had lost the treasure, or angry that the criminal was still free or angry that the cave of gold was now sealed off. Or... knowing her, angry about all three. As he attempted to prepare himself for hell's fury he didn't realize that her eyes were watering ( because of the dust laden air, of course) and that she was trembling ( because obviously running so fast had taken a lot of energy) and that her mind was repeating the same two words over and over and over again (because how had one Pokemon managed to collapse an entire cave, right?). _

_She moved, and he flinched again, thinking that she was going to hit him. But instead, her small, lean arms wrapped around one of his own, and she leaned against him, white-petaled head resting against his chest._

"_You're okay..." _

_And he could only blink, because he couldn't believe that she was actually touching him. _

"_Huh?"_

_Of course she didn't answer, and he didn't really expect her to. _

_So instead he just put his free arm around her and said it was okay as he breathed in her sweet scent like flowers after fresh rain. And they stayed like that, until Nero finally caught up and taunted the two for weeks afterwards. _

_**She must be-**_

"Yo."

Haku jerked his head up at the sound of Rade's groggy voice, and it was obvious that she had just gotten up. She rubbed her eyes carefully with her red and blue roses, then looked back at the psychic type again, cloudy red eyes now clear. The Gallade couldn't help but shake his head and smirk slightly at her words, as that was definitely not the correct greeting using manners.

"Hello and good health, Lady Rade."

The female scowled, as usual. "First off, I don't really need to be wished good health every single time you talk to me, dude. Second, don't use that stupid 'lady' title on me, alright? Makes me sound like I'm from Team Charm." She shuddered at the thought. Haku couldn't also held but flinch at the idea. Sure, if she had been from Team Charm...

...She'd be graceful.

_Not tripping over her own cape. Not cursing some idiot out because he'd taken her for some flirt. Not swinging in trees or running around in the rain because it felt good._

...She'd be good with kids.

_Or rather, she would be happy with just other kids. She'd be willing to have a family with just anyone. She'd probably be too delicate to fight._

... She'd do everything he said.

_Even if it was bad for him. Even if it meant that her own beliefs were trashed. Even if she'd do anything any possessive, moronic person said to do, should it harm others or not. _

... She'd be honest.

_To the point where she wouldn't be able to hide things. Where she wouldn't be an enigma. Where finding out what she was thinking wouldn't be difficult, and then not worth it..._

...She'd be predictable.

_Very predictable. She wouldn't be a surprise, she wouldn't do the random things that made being around her so fun. _

She'd probably meet every guideline for a suitable mate.

She'd be _Rose_rade, the flower maiden with sweet smiles and silky touches. She'd have a light, feminine voice that could turn into a seductive purr at a moment's breath. She'd be more interested in jewels than the taking down of criminals.

She wouldn't be Rade.

Rade, with her clumsiness and tripping and badmouth. Rade, who would do whatever she would damn please, no matter what anyone else thought. Rade, who- outside actions aside- really did care about her friends, despite the yelling and name-calling she usually resorted to.

Rade, who he had fallen in love with.

The Gallade had only just realized it, but it was because of her anti-nobleness that made her so different. Was it ironic that the reason he had fallen for her was because she was everything that he would never be? He didn't really know, and to be honest, he didn't _want _to.

"You still there?"

It took a blue rose being waved in front of his face for him to be snapped out of his thoughts. He jumped slightly when he realized that she was now on her knees, leaning towards him. Her red eyes were annoyed. But- before he could give her a chance to insult him for spacing out- the psychic grabbed one of her wrists (the one with the red rose, he noted) and pulled her into a hug. Stunned, the ninja froze, eyes wide as she tried to figure out what was going on.

"Huh?"

And, unlike her, he answered.

"Yeah. I'm still here. And I'm alright, too."

And then he let go of her and rolled onto his side with his back to her, as he used his arm as a pillow so that he could finally close his eyes and get some sleep. Rade, finally managing to snap out of her stupor, punched her best friend in the back with one flowered arm. "Hey, wait, get up! What was that about?! You'd better not be asleep- hey, you are aren't you?! You bastard! I'm going to kill you...!"

Haku only grinned, realizing that the forest didn't seem so intimidating with Rade's colorful language ranting off in the now broken atmosphere. A moment later, with a large snarl, Nero woke up, told her to shut up and was then thrown into a tree with the force of spiked vines. Arguing, insulting and snarling filled the campsite, chasing away the creepiness and replacing it with the strange comfort that was Team Raider while the psychic type just continued to smile to himself.

"You idiotic girl! Shut up, will ya?!"

"I'M idiotic?! At least I didn't have to stand on two legs to THINK properly!"

"Why you-"

Sure, he could have had a life of comfort if he had chosen the noble, high class route of life, but why would he? He had two friends that he cared for, a fun life and a bright future. He wasn't sure what kind of future, but he knew it would be fine, as long as they were around. Who knew, maybe he'd get a mate and start a family, a big one, like Nero had said that one time.

In that case, he only had one guideline to follow:

**She must be Rade**

And that's all he could ever ask for.

* * *


End file.
